Birthday Wish

The first twenty-three years of my life

Were spent entirely 

In Australia.

I didn’t even own a passport until I was twenty-three.

And all I wanted

More than anything in the world

Was to see it.

To be in the world and meeting people and traveling to far off lands. 

And at twenty-three years, plus nine months,

I finally left the land girt by sea

And ventured to the 

Land of Overseas

It’s funny to imagine that twenty-three year old

Walking through the Departure Gate 

Hoping and trusting that wonderful adventures lay ahead. 

That year she turned twenty-four in Paris

And spent the day cycling through Parisian streets 

And eating lunch in the gardens of a French palace.

The following year she turned twenty-five in San Francisco,

Ate nachos and got engaged,

And the next day, cycled across the Golden Gate Bridge

Apprehensive that the any-moment-now Quake would send her plunging to her death. 

The following year she turned twenty-six in Sydney

And sang on stage

In a band with parents and teachers from her sister’s school.

She was no longer engaged, 

But knew she was going back to places far away. 

And the following year she turned twenty-seven in London

And her aunt spoilt her rotten 

With a day-long adventure of food and sights and a play and cupcakes

That ended after midnight,

And she felt free and in the right place.

And the following year she turned twenty-eight in Fort Collins, Colorado

And walked around a Buddhist temple in the mountains

And ate a picnic at sunset by the river

With a boy who was wise and loving and strong. 

And she reflected on the four years since the overseas adventure had begun. 

And she realized she had done many of the things she had first set out to do,

Go overseas. Live. Work. Play. Fall in love. 

And she wondered, 

What is Next? 

Where will she be at twenty-nine?

And she whispered a prayer to her heart, and said

Hold on. 

It all comes true, I promise. 

The end.